Back at the Olympia tonight. It's on nights like this — nights involving at least 2 glasses of wine — that I become convinced I'm better off away from computers of any kind. Away from people, both online and off. Another glass of wine and a bit of whine and I'm all set. <p> THWACK! go the keys. Pounding out letter after letter, one after another, forming (in time) several sentences &#8211; sentences much like this one.

I kind of miss digital. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Oh no, here we go again.” and you’re right. This has happened before. So? Currently, I own 2 digital cameras; the Fuji X100 and a 10-year-old Canon 1Ds. The X100 is great for having with me and grabbing snaps. The out-of-camera JPEGs are terrific. I love it. The 1Ds was at one time an $8000 monster full-frame brick. I’ve been borrowing it for 6 years or so.

The more I write using a typewriter, the more I enjoy writing. It’s not that the words come out any better, but it is a lot more fun making them. I now own three typewriters, which I suppose officially makes me a collector. The latest, shown above, is a 1958 Olympia SM-3. Beautiful, isn’t it? The SM series by Olympia is usually described as great for actually typing. Seems like a good feature, and I have to agree.

Eastgate’s Tinderbox is a deep, complex, and significant piece of software that I have been using daily for years. It’s an outlining, mindmapping, blog-publishing, timeline-generating, text-analyzing, agent-using, note-taking everything tool. It’s also a minimalist writing environment. Create a new note. Hide the sidebar (if shown by default) Close any other note windows Write. There are no toolbars, palletes, or anything else to distract you. Tinderbox doesn’t have any sort of distraction-free “mode” which hides other apps, centers the window, etc.

How many frames should one include when cutting negatives? This terribly important question has had me preoccupied for days. My workflow has always been to cut strips of 6 frames. This makes for the most efficient scanning and easy storage in the 6×6 negative sleeves. The problem with 6-frame strips is that it makes printing contact (proof) sheets fussy and difficult. The strips don’t fit well on an 8×10 sheet of paper when in the sleeves, and trying to arrange curled negatives individually is an exercise in frustration.

The Hasselblad can be a pain in the ass to use. Focusing on a moving subject is impossible, and unless I’m using the prism finder, everything in the viewfinder is backwards. I swear a lot when using it. On the other hand, I just love the way the Zeiss lenses render. And I love the square format.

I had a long talk with myself after somehow acquiring no fewer than 4 Leica M bodies. That’s beyond what even I can rationalize. During the talk, I asked myself, “What if you could keep two of them?” The answer was that I would need to buy an M7 in order to keep just two. See how that works? I can explain. The M3 I bought recently is perfect. I love it.

I’ve been consolidating my gear. This means selling off a few things that aren’t being used enough. Take a look: https://jackbaty.com/for-sale/. 

Spent an hour today wandering around in the Corner Record Shop. Ended up taking home a rather varied selection of new (and old) records. J. Geils Band – Full House. “First I Look At The Purse” is so great. Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield. Used in The Exorcist. Makes it creepy Kill Bill Volume II soundtrack. I love the music Tarentino chooses for his films. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Still getting used to the Elmar 9cm. I don’t usually shoot longer lenses, but the M3 makes focusing it pretty easy. In this case, I shot Zim at 1/15th at f/4 handheld and actually hit the focus and neither of us moved. That almost never happens.

I change my mind. I try things and then don’t. I bore easily. Before everything changes again, I thought I’d jot down a quick, random, off-the-cuff list of the things I’m currently enjoying. Leica film cameras. Especially the new M3. Everything about it is terrific. I sometimes carry one around the house for no reason. Siri. I put the iOS 6 beta on my iPad and started playing with Siri.

A funny thing happened while I was waiting for my new M3 to ship from Japan. A nice user sample with a recent CLA showed up on the local Craigslist. No harm taking a look, right? I couldn’t resist, and bought it at a fair price. My fear with the M3 was that the viewfinder’s frame lines would be difficult to see while wearing glasses. Lots of people claim to have trouble with the .